Just as with laser and ink jet printers, the money will be in the cartridges, not the printer itself.

And we'll consume even more. I remember people saying "Computers will stop the world from cutting down forests for paper!!!" (never mind a lot of wood comes from fields that instead of corn grow trees), and instead paper consumption jumped because we also go the printer along with it and you could print out a copy of that memo you were emailed.

I think tablets may finally have put a dent in paper production.

Anyways, I still want on, just for fun. I have no delusions I will be 3D printing knickknacks for mass consumption.

StrangeQ:xria: Iknhaton: I'm pretty sure that at this point there is nothing they can't do.

Next we should 3D print out a spaceship to travel to Mars with a crew, and with a 3D printer on the spaceship to 3D print out all the food, water and air they will need on the trip.

You're like QAs bitter, immature, less eloquent little brother.

I like to imagine QA at the turn of the previous century frantically sending out missives that this whole electricity thing is vastly overblown and that it won't be able to do a fraction of the things that are being claimed for it.

Honest Bender:Because when I go to a museum, I'm just as happy to see posters and 3D recreations of famous works.

Even good museums often put reproductions on display. Not everybody can be the British Museum. There are only so many originals out there. Also, when talking about things like architecture, it's generally better to reproduce the architecture than it is to rip it off the building- seeing pieces of the Parthenon in London is more depressing than you'd think.

My wife is into dollhousing. I told her a couple years ago, this whole 3D printing thing will completely turn miniatures inside out. Watch and see. It wasn't too long after that, that she came home with a figure for a dollhouse. Generally they're crudely-made "dolls" that don't look at all real. This one was 3D-printed, and is the perfect depiction of a grumpy, disheveled, frowning old man possible. It was love at first sight.

I just had another brainwave the other day. There will be a trend of people 3D printing characters and props from iconic movie scenes so they can recreate them in miniature.

Kibbler:My wife is into dollhousing. I told her a couple years ago, this whole 3D printing thing will completely turn miniatures inside out. Watch and see. It wasn't too long after that, that she came home with a figure for a dollhouse. Generally they're crudely-made "dolls" that don't look at all real. This one was 3D-printed, and is the perfect depiction of a grumpy, disheveled, frowning old man possible. It was love at first sight.

I just had another brainwave the other day. There will be a trend of people 3D printing characters and props from iconic movie scenes so they can recreate them in miniature.

Your wife will love what Shapeways can do./ $45 each about 4 inches tall.

Honest Bender:That's awesome. Because when I go to a museum, I'm just as happy to see posters and 3D recreations of famous works. The experience in no way has anything to do with viewing the actual work...

/That was sarcasm, btw.

Ever buy a poster of an artwork in a museum gift shop? Or a miniature replica of a statue?

Uh, no they don't. At least not art museums. Various places with historical artifacts and lots of fading documents, yes.

If you see a painting billed as a Monet and it is not a Monet, the museum you are at is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good museum. If the real art isn't available, good museums hang something else in its place or hang a sign saying, "out for conservation".

farkeruk:So, to get a $200 Rodin replica statue (like the ones they sell in the Rodin museum), I only have to spend $2200?

You can use a 3D printer to make replicas of statues that are not popular enough to warrant mass production.

I once saw a small bronze statue in the Boston MFA titled, I thought, "Small Triumphant Venus". I cannot find it any mention of it on google, so it must be kind of obscure. But it would be cool to be able to own a copy of it--not one of the famous statues of all time, just a nude with an attitude.

Kibbler:My wife is into dollhousing. I told her a couple years ago, this whole 3D printing thing will completely turn miniatures inside out. Watch and see. It wasn't too long after that, that she came home with a figure for a dollhouse. Generally they're crudely-made "dolls" that don't look at all real. This one was 3D-printed, and is the perfect depiction of a grumpy, disheveled, frowning old man possible. It was love at first sight.

I just had another brainwave the other day. There will be a trend of people 3D printing characters and props from iconic movie scenes so they can recreate them in miniature.

StoPPeRmobile:Kibbler: My wife is into dollhousing. I told her a couple years ago, this whole 3D printing thing will completely turn miniatures inside out. Watch and see. It wasn't too long after that, that she came home with a figure for a dollhouse. Generally they're crudely-made "dolls" that don't look at all real. This one was 3D-printed, and is the perfect depiction of a grumpy, disheveled, frowning old man possible. It was love at first sight.

I just had another brainwave the other day. There will be a trend of people 3D printing characters and props from iconic movie scenes so they can recreate them in miniature.

Citadel will push to make it illegal.

In theory, if you're hand with a knife and can afford to buy and pain Warhammer minis, you can ALREADY make your own custom minis. It's easier to learn metal casting than it is to get a fabricator up and running and write a decent drafting program.

doglover:In theory, if you're hand with a knife and can afford to buy and pain Warhammer minis, you can ALREADY make your own custom minis. It's easier to learn metal casting than it is to get a fabricator up and running and write a decent drafting program.

There are lots of tools that will let you make 3d objects in a computer much easier then by making them out of clay. Like the "Undo" tool.

There is certainly an allure for warhammer people to have a 3d printer that you could use to make a positive, then make a mold and cast lead minis.

The problem is that anything under $5,000 in the 3d printer market just isn't going to do what you want without wasting tons of time and money.

But I guess if you are into warhammer, you are into wasting tons of time, so a 3d printer might be perfect.